Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover, is about how Tara Westover describes her life secluded in the mountains in which she grew up. Tara’s family and siblings had been secluded and they have no education nor any idea of the real world. Though with Tara being disconnected from the real world, she goes on to try for a new life and finally get an education; however, this leads to more disconnection. Whether it be into one’s home life, school, or just the outside world, there is a fear of not fitting in. In many situations, most adolescents do have this fear of not fitting in.
As of having this fear, in literary similarity, Tara has this fear of not fitting in. Not fitting in, that can take a toll on one’s mentality; it can also lead to paranoia, and seclusion from others. In Tara’s case, as she bestows to her new life by first taking the ACT, she says in the book that after the ACT, “I drove home. I felt stupid, but more than stupid I felt ridiculous. Now that I’d seen the other students… as if they were performing a practiced routine it seemed absurd that I had thought I could score in the top fifteen percent. That was their world. I stepped into overalls and returned to mine.” (page 135) That fear of not fitting in and feeling you don’t have a clue what you are doing can lead to seclusion; in Tara’s case she had no idea of what was going on and what to do, so she goes home, secludes herself, and pretend nothing had happened.
There is also paranoia with having fears and wondering if anyone knows these fears or secrets which still, can lead to more seclusion. In Tara’s new life, in chapter 17, she states many times that she flees to her room. She also states another situation in which she did not fit in, and thought that others knew too of her fear and disconnection from the world by saying “ [t]he next morning, I sat down, feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes. The course was on Shakespeare… [b]ut now I was here I realized I knew nothing about him…[w]hen the bell rang, the professor approached my desk. “You don’t belong here,” she said. I stared at her, confused. Of course, I didn’t belong but how did she know? I was on the verge of confessing the whole thing.” (Page 155) This fear has many things that make one fear even more and maladjustment.
In conclusion, having this fear is a real thing, like in many cases, of either transition from home life to the outside world or school, can make someone feel like they just don’t fit in at all. As in Tara’s case in educated, there is a literary similarity to this fear of not fitting in. This fear, as stated above, can lead to a troubled mind, a detached feeling, and remoteness. This fear is a real prosecutor.
Works Cited
Westover, Tara. Educated. Page 135, 2018.
Westover, Tara. Educated. Page 155, 2018.
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